Fewer Air Targets as ISIL Terrorists Hide, Change Tactics

By Claudette Roulo
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2015 - Success in the effort to degrade, defeat and
destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant shouldn't be considered simply
in terms of a body count or how much land has changed hands, Pentagon Press
Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said today.

"What makes these guys different than a group like al-Qaida is they do have
territorial designs. They have governing ambitions," Kirby told reporters during
a regular Pentagon news briefing.

"They talk about this caliphate vision of theirs. And in order to govern, you
have to have territory under your control. So that matters, in that regard," the
admiral explained.

Airstrikes Affecting ISIL
Tactics

But the more critical measure of success is one that can't be easily
quantified: how ISIL's behavior on the battlefield has changed since the start
of the bombing campaign last June, Kirby said.

"We know that they are operating and communicating in much different ways now
than they were seven months ago. They're no longer out in the open," he
said.

Because there are fewer targets, the air campaign has slowed down, the
admiral said.

"One of the reasons why maybe there's fewer targets is because they're hiding
more," Kirby said. "And if they're hiding more, if they're constrained, then
they're not as able to enact the same kind of influence. So they're changing the
way they operate. They are definitely much more on the defensive."

ISIL forces have also slowed their attempts to seize more territory, he
said.

"What we are starting to see them do is defend, you know, so they're getting
into defensive positions on territory that they do have," the admiral said. "And
they are -- we're seeing them try to protect their own lines of
communication."

Progress Against a Potent
Force

These signs of progress -- in addition to indications that ISIL is struggling
due to the inability to resupply themselves and because of the loss of oil
revenue -- shouldn't be taken to mean that they are no longer a potent force
inside Iraq and Syria, Kirby said.

"There's a long way to go here," he said. Establishing the conditions that
will lead to good governance inside Iraq and Syria will take three to five
years, the admiral said, and eradicating the ideology of ISIL will require more
than just a military campaign.

"I've said it before, I'll say it again: ... The real center of gravity for
this group is their ideology, not their fighters, not their trucks, and not
necessarily, you know, every little camp they set up or position that they
establish," Kirby said.

"It's about this ideology and that's going to take time. And it's not going
to be done through military means alone."